Inheritance: New Alliances
by Dragonhulk
Summary: Chaos comes from conflict, so Ethan decided to give the new Superman a challenge. The only problem is that Ethan got a bit more than he expected this time around and created a job that is too big for even a Superman. Third story in the Inheritance serie
1. Chapter 1

Inheritance: New Alliances

Author: Dragonhulk

Disclaimer: I own nothing, nothing I say!

Summery: Chaos comes from conflict, so Ethan decided to give the new Superman a challenge. The only problem is that Ethan got a bit more than he expected this time around and created a job that is too big for even a Superman. Third story in the Inheritance series.

Rating: Teen

Crossovers: Anything in DC is fare game, but will be mainly Superman and Batman.

* * *

"Is it safe?" asked Xander in a fearful tone as he entered the library.

Giles simply rolled his eyes and said, "Xander you are arguably the most powerful being on the face of this planet, and she's a seventeen year old girl, grow some backbone."

"Giles every man runs when a woman is mad at him, no matter how much more powerful he may be. Heck I've seen you run from a certain computer teacher when she's angry at you, and you've never interrupted her when she was about to have 'the moment' with a man she has been mooning over for a year," said Xander as he handed Giles a stack of papers.

"Is this what I think it is?" asked Giles as he took the papers with a smile on his face.

"Yep, it's the last three chapters of my book. I had some time after I took care of the volcano, so I decided to finish it up and send it off to my publisher," said Xander as he sat on one of the more comfortable chairs in the room.

"I must say that I'm still surprised as just how well you have done in this endeavor considering your past English grades," said Giles as he sat down and began to devour the story he had been given.

"What can I say, both my parents had a way with words, and now so do I," said Xander as he enjoyed the attention Giles was giving the pages in front of him.

It had taken a while to figure out what he wanted to write about, but after his Christmas trip he simply decided to write about what he knew, and he knew heroes. The main character in the story was a combination of himself and Batman that called himself the Tarantula and went about solving supernatural crimes.

His publisher had loved the premise, and the first chapters Xander had sent in. In fact Xander wouldn't be surprised of he was offered a three book deal within six months of the book hitting the shelf. He had made sure that the cover art was just enough to get someone to start reading, and if Giles' reaction was any indication, people may think it's good enough to be bought.

The next hour was spent in blessed silence, something Xander was coming to appreciate more and more. The times that there wasn't some industrial accident, natural disaster, or monster trying to make someone its snack seemed to be decreasing exponentially.

"Excellent work Xander. I hope you will continue this, even if its only to keep me entertained," said Giles as he finished the last page.

"Are you suggesting that my sense of humor isn't entertaining enough?" asked Xander in a tone of mock sadness.

"Lets just say that it would be best for the world if you never attempt to write a comedy," said Giles with a grin.

"G-man making with the funnies, the end of the world is neigh," said Xander with a matching grin. "Seriously though, anything I should be aware of on the Hellmouth front?"

"Not that I'm aware of. Ever sense you dismembered the Judge with your heat vision, and scattered his remains throughout space things have been blessedly quiet. The only thing that is even worth mentioning is the strange lights on the Eastern seaboard," said Giles.

"I'll make sure to give it a close look when I do my patrol of the US," said Xander. It probably wouldn't take too long to find out what the problem was now that he had almost mastered all the powers related to his eyes. He still had a bit of trouble controlling the intensity, but he wasn't switching from x-ray to heat vision anymore.

"Are you still planning to go to the Bronze tonight?" asked Giles in an attempt to keep the conversation going.

"Yep, another night of playing odd man out," said Xander with a bit of a sigh.

"Still not having much luck finding dates?" asked Giles.

"Nah, this is something of a girl repellent," said Xander as he tapped his thick glasses.

"Yes I don't see how they wouldn't be," said Giles. "Though considering that you wear them voluntarily you get no sympathy."

Any comment Xander would have made was cut off as the library door burst open and a very angry blond came storming in.

"Xander did you tell Angel you would dust him if he didn't wait until I was eighteen!" raged Buffy.

"Oh look, a Russian space station is in trouble. I'll see you later when there are more witnesses to prevent you from committing murder, bye!" said Xander just before he did a reasonable impression of a speeding bullet.

"Just how long are you going to make him suffer for that?" asked Giles between chuckles.

"A few more days," said Buffy with a smile. "He may have a point, but messing in my love live means he has to suffer."

"I'll be sure to remember that," said Giles with as straight a face as he could manage.

"See that you do," said Buffy as she skipped out of the doors to get ready for her date with Angel.


	2. A Dark Light

"Ah, the Bronze; loud, smelly, but with just the right number of people to prevent Xander slayage," said Xander as he sat down with Buffy, Willow and Oz.

"People don't notice when I slay vampires, what makes you think they will notice if I kill you?" asked Buffy in a low tone, but without any real malice.

"Because you don't want to look bad in front of your boyfriend," said Xander while indicating the door Angel had just walked through.

"So how was space?" asked Willow when Buffy and Angel started to make doe eyes at one another.

"Quiet, cold, but full of the solar radiation goodness that makes a half Kryptonion body good," said Xander just before Cordelia walked in with her current stud of the week.

The talk quickly degraded to the everyday matters of the teenage world. If a stranger had walked by he would have simply seen a group of friends and one shy clinger on, nothing more.

Of course this is the Hellmouth, where all good things must be torn down and destroyed. This fact was nicely punctuated when a middle aged Englishman came crashing into the club in a frantic dash looking for a particular group of teenagers.

"Xander, Buffy, if I may have a moment of your time," said Giles as soon as he reached the table.

"Aren't you the librarian?" asked the jock Cordelia had brought with her.

"Yes well, these two are notoriously lax when it comes to returning books on time," said Giles in a quick attempt to make a cover story.

The jock gave everyone a disbelieving look to which Oz simply said, "Man takes his job seriously." To this the jock simply shrugged and did what all Sunnydale residents did and started to try and forget that anything unusual ever happened.

* * *

"Did you check out the east coast like I asked you to do?" Giles asked Xander.

"Briefly, but then I saw a tanker about to capsize, so I didn't look too close. Is there something wrong?" responded Xander.

Giles simply turned on his car radio, and turned up the volume so the two teenagers could hear.

"-led. Once again Gotham City has been encased in green flames. While these flames don't appear to be burning anything or giving off heat they are dangerous, and have injured several people. The National Guard has closed all roads into Gotham, and all flights to Gotham, Metropolis, and New York have been canceled. Stay tuned for any further developments," said a voice that crackled as it came out of old speakers.

"Damn it," cursed Xander as Giles turned the radio off.

"I assume by your reaction that you have reached the same conclusion that I have," said Giles in a serious tone.

"Wait, you guys know what's doing that?" asked Buffy.

"The Green Lantern," said Giles and Xander together.

"Imagine having a ring that could grant your every wish, just so long as you wanted it enough," said Xander. "The ring could do just about anything you wanted, as long as it had enough power from the lantern."

"The Watchers Council was unable to uncover any weaknesses pertaining to the constructs created, but the reports of that time have recently become suspect," said Giles.

"It had a weakness, but I'm not sure that it will still work without the ring getting its energy from the lantern," said Xander.

"Excuse me?" asked Giles. "How did you come to that conclusion?"

"A friend of my father has the lantern Giles, but the ring was lost when Green Lantern was killed in a vampire attack. Before you ask, the person that has the lantern can be trusted, and no, it wasn't stolen from him," said Xander.

"Are you sure?" asked Giles.

"Yeah, this guy is as trustworthy as you can get, and anyone who could take the lantern from him would be so powerful that they wouldn't need the lantern in the first place. No, whatever is powering the ring now isn't coming from the lantern."

"That still leaves with the question of what to do," said Giles.

"Get the others out of the Bronze and do a research party," said Xander. "The lantern is old Giles, older than anyone probably believes. Green Lantern reshaped the lantern into a 'modern' train lantern from an old Chinese lantern, there's no telling how many times it was reshaped before then."

"Do you really think the lantern has been used before the 1940's?" asked Giles.

"Without Dr. Fate, it's a good place to start," said Xander as he started to look around.

"So what are we going to do?" asked Buffy.

"I'm going to fly to Gotham as fast as I can, and the flight would probably kill you. If I thought that I could slow down enough to bring you along I would, but the people in Gotham need help as fast as they can get it," said Xander.

"Okay go, but there's no way I'm going to let you fight the next one alone," said Buffy.

As soon as he was sure his friend understood Xander took off only stopping at his house to drop off his civilian clothes, and the library to pick up some supplies. After completing those tasks in under a minute he reoriented himself and started to fly towards Gotham at speeds that would put most modern aircraft to shame.

* * *

Half way across the country another significant conversation was taking place.

"We have to do something!" raged a man.

"We don't know what that is or how to fight it. Besides neither of us are as young as we once were, or as fit. If we go we're just as likely to get ourselves killed," said a woman in a reasonable tone.

"I know, I just don't like feeling helpless," said the man in a calmer voice.

"Neither do I," said the woman. "We have been using our gifts to help others for over fifteen years now, but we were always careful. What's happening in Gotham is already too public, there's no way we wouldn't be noticed, and we don't need a modern day HUAC making our lives miserable."

"I know," said the man as he sat down on the couch and started to hold his wife as they both watched the live coverage on the television.

If either the man or the woman had bothered to look behind them one tenth of a second ago they would have seen their son in deep though. Now there was no trace of their son except for the quickly fading golden witchfire that led toward his bedroom.


	3. A Dark Knight

Xander flew through the air at ten times the speed of sound. His arms weren't stretched out in front of him like they usually where when he flew, but wrapped around him, holding a weapon against the whipping wind.

At one hundred miles from Gotham Xander no longer needed to use his enhanced vision to see the tower of green flames the city had become.

It took Xander a bit over two minutes to reach the wall of green flame after he slowed down to below the speed of sound to avoid shattering every window, and doing more harm than good. For two minutes he had to watch members of the National Guard being killed by a tendril of green flame to prevent innocent people from being impaled by falling shards of glass.

At a speed of over six hundred miles per hour Xander unfolded his arms and put a simple wooden sword in front of him. Such a simple, everyday material cut through something the National Guard had spent hours attempting to penetrate for hours.

The path he had made in the flames patched itself up almost instantly, not giving anyone else a chance to follow Xander through. That was fine as far as Xander was concerned, because the inside looked even worse than the outside and he didn't want to see any more people needlessly slaughtered.

Everywhere Xander turned there were solid green constructs. Most seemed to simply be restraining people in their homes, but the ones on the street truly frightened Xander.

Each green construct was a deformed clown carving up the faces of those that were outside when the insanity started. The victims had their upper and lower eyelids removed, and the area around their mouth mutilated into a grin so vile it would make death shudder.

Xander was my no means a detective like the Batman was, but he also wasn't stupid. Given everything he had seen there was only person that could have the ring and cause all this destruction.

"Joker," hissed Xander just before his world got covered in green.

* * *

As the green light faded from his eyes Xander saw two demented versions of Joker standing over him in doctor scrubs, one of whom was holding a scalpel.

"So serious," said one of the Joker constructs.

"Don't worry Doctor, we can fix it," said the second Joker construct.

"Oh? Tell me Doctor, how can we save this poor soul," said the first Joker construct, completely ignoring the fact that Xander was using his heat vision on its face.

"With this," said the second Joker construct as it held up the Greek mask of comedy.

As soon as Xander saw the mask his body lit up in pain. The ring could create anything, and right now it was apparent that Joker really wanted a Greek mask of comedy made out of Kryptonite.

"Look at the way he's moving, I think he's getting funnier already," said the second Joker construct.

"In that case lest finish the operation, I got a tea break in ten minutes," said the first Joker construct as it changed its scalpel into a drill and some screws.

"But Doctor, that won't leave any time for pain killers," said the second construct, its grin becoming inhumanly large.

"Don't worry I have malpractice insurance," said the first construct as it placed the drill on Xanders head. "Now you may feel a slight discomfort. Don't worry it won't last long, but feel free to scream."

Just as the construct was about to put a drill through Xanders brain a piece of wood shaped like a bat, cut through the drill.

Looking up with some effort Xander saw on extremely pissed off woman, and for the first time in his life he was happy to see it. Of course the fact that the woman was hot, dressed head to tow in black leather, and wasn't currently mad had him had very little to do with it; really.

Batgirl tore through the constructs like a woman possessed. Every now and then she would send a wooden batarang his direction, but Xander soon realized that was simply a side effect of aiming at the Joker constructs.

As soon as enough batarangs had passed through to free him Xander grabbed his wooden sword and helped Batgirl destroy the rest of the constructs. A feat soon accomplished due to the use of super-speed.

Soon only one Joker construct was left within a one block radius. The construct didn't last long and soon disappeared into nothingness after Batgirl punched it and Xander cut off its head.

"Wow, who knew a member of the Bat-clan could deliver a better punch line than a guy calling himself the Joker," said Xander with a smile.

Batgirl quickly turned around and gave him a glare that every woman in the world would envy and said, "Make another joke like that and I'll personally shove the old mans hunk of Kryptonite so far up your butt you'll cough it up."

"Hey," said Xander in a more serious tone. "At times like this a joke can help, and you really need help. You didn't even try to free me back there; you were way too focused on destroying the Joker constructs."

"If you can't take care of yourself you should go home and put that S back where you found it," said Batgirl as she started to walk away.

"Listen I don't know what I did to piss you off, but this ends now," growled Xander. "I have all of my fathers' memories, including the ones where he fought the Joker alongside the Batman, so that puts me about ten steps ahead of you. Add to that all the powers that I have and a good understanding just how much the ring can do and you get someone who would be pretty dang useful in this situation wouldn't you agree?"

"Maybe," admitted Batgirl. "I guess I could use you after loosing contact with the old man."

"Fine," said Xander. "The ring constructs are more dense towards the center of town. I can't see through them like I can the buildings, but chances are we'll find the Joker there."

"You mean we'll find whoever is impersonating the Joker there. The Joker has been dead for years, all this has to be the work of a copy cat," said Batgirl as they walked to the center of the city.

"Could be a copy cat, but I wouldn't count the original Joker out. In my home town I fight dead people at least once a night," said Xander.

"Thanks, the thought that the worst person ever to walk the streets of Gotham could have risen from the grave to wreak unholy terror is so comforting," said Batgirl in a flat tone.

"Hey, it's what I do," said Xander as he followed Batgirl to the heart of the city.

* * *

In a dark shadow a figure sat and watched the two costumed figures in discuss. This was a time for war, not a time to flirt.

No matter they would be easier to follow this way. The easer they were to follow the quicker she could reach her destination, and the quicker she reached her destination the quicker she could go home.

* * *

In a city far removed from Gotham an old man looked from the news coverage and up to the night stars. He hadn't wanted to do this, but the time had come, the stars were telling him so.

Rising from his chair with a groan Theodore Knight walked over to his telephone and began to dial a number from memory. Night had come and it was time for the stars to once again shine.


	4. Meant to Be

In Sunnydale things were beginning to look grim. In the hour that had passed after Xander had left the Scooby Gang had almost completely exhausted what little knowledge the Council had collected on Green Lantern, and the reports they did have were suspect because of the tampering done by Oliver Rayne.

"Giles so far every report Ethan's dad turned in says that the Lantern is just about all powerful, and even if we do find some kind of weakness how are we going to get all the way to Gotham?" asked Buffy as she closed a book in frustration.

"We aren't simply researching to aid Xander in this particular fight, we are researching in case Xander loses. As much as we may not wish to say it Xander could very well die tonight, and if he does it will fall to us to stop whoever has the ring before he can harm others," said Giles in a grim tone.

Buffy's only response was a look of shocked terror as she picked up the first book she had read once again. This time though she spent longer on each page, searching for any clue to help in her quest to find the answer to her question.

The silence continued for quite a while, and while Giles wasn't proud of what he did to accomplish it he knew it had to be done. The people that had arisen during the Second World War had been insanely powerful, and now one by one, they seemed to be returning.

"Hey Giles, I think I found something," said Cordelia.

"What is it Cordelia?" asked Giles as he walked over to where Cordelia was reading old newspaper clipping.

"I haven't found anything new on the Lantern guy, but I know where we can find another one of these," said Cordelia as she pointed to a faded photograph.

"Oh and tell me, where in Sunnydale have they stored the extra copies of Dr Fate?" asked Giles as he got a good look at just what Cordelia was pointing at.

"What, did you go nuts in the last five minutes or something? I'm not talking about the whole guy, I just know where the helmet is," said Cordelia. "According to the journals its supposed to be powerful so maybe we could use it to help Xander out."

"I'm sorry Cordelia you are quite right, it would be quite helpful to have the helmet. Where is it located?" asked Giles in a softer voice.

"Ra has it. Bast saw him with it during some recent trips to the underworld," said Cordelia with a satisfied smirk.

"Are you seriously suggesting that we go to the land of the dead to steal from a God?" asked Giles. At Cordelia's nod the middle aged Englishman completely lost it and screamed, "Have you lost your bloody MIND!"

"It may not be a very good idea, but it's the best one we have. Now unless you were lying about how dangerous this Lantern guy is we should be working on a way to get to the land of the dead instead of yelling at each other," said Willow, concern for her childhood friend clear in her voice.

"Oh getting there isn't that hard. It's already night so all we need to do is the ritual so we can fallow the path of Ra, it should take us right to him," said Cordelia with her ever present smile.

"Following the path of Ra? It sounds ideal but I've never heard of it before," said Giles.

"Back when the Egyptian gods first came to earth they were more laid back. Ra being the nice guy he is came up with a ritual so people could talk to him face to face any time they wanted. When people started to abuse the ritual Ra erased the knowledge from the mind of human kind to get some quiet time. Lucky for us I got some memories from a goddess," explained Cordelia.

"So finding Ra and getting to him is no problem, but that still leaves getting the helmet from him," said Giles.

"We can burn that bridge when we come to it Giles, but right now every second we waste talking is another second we aren't helping Xander," said Buffy in a firm tone.

"Very well, we'll do the ritual. How long will it take Cordelia?" asked Giles.

"With the right stuff it should only take half an hour," said Cordelia with a shrug.

* * *

Xander and Batgirl slunk through the streets of Gotham; avoiding any green glow they could, except when they heard the cries of someone in trouble. What disturbed Xander the most was that the cries seemed to lessen as they neared the center of the city, while the emerald glow only increased. Xander could only come to one conclusion as to why that would happen, and he didn't like it at all.

"So where are the others?" Xander asked Batgirl after they had saved another person and dropped him off at Gotham Park.

"When this started the old man sent us all out armed with wood, but the ring still separated us early on. I ended up a couple of blocks from where we met, and you know the rest. Why do you ask, can't you find them with your 'super-bat-finding' power or something?" asked Batgirl.

"Wasn't around them enough to memorize their heartbeats, and like I said I can't see through the constructs because they're magical in nature. Our visitor may have some suggestions on how to get around the whole magical roadblock though," said Xander.

"If she does she better speak up, the constructs are almost everywhere now so the time for hiding in shadows is over," said Batgirl as both she and Xander turned and looked at a particularly dark shadow.

The face and uniform the emerged from the shadow were familiar, but Xander had never seen the two together before. The uniform Xander recognized from his fathers memories as the battle gear of Wonder Woman, and while it may simply look like a patriotic version of outdated roman armor, Xander could almost feel the magic radiating from it. The face however Xander recognized first hand as the one that had threatened to kill him if he so much as touched the ground of her homeland.

"I bested all of my sisters to be able to have the honor of being the Wonder Woman, so how is it that a simple man can find me no matter how well I hide?" asked the blond goddess as her blue eyes narrowed dangerously.

"I can see through solid objects so shadows really aren't a problem for me," said Xander with a disarming smile.

"This armor is enchanted to hide when necessary despite the bright colors, so your vision would be useless," said the new Wonder Woman in a confident tone.

"Yeah it did that well, but I could still hear your heart beat," responded Xander.

"Enough!" snapped Batgirl. "Every second we waste is another second a madman controls the city. If you have anything to contribute tell us now or go back to your little island."

In response Wonder Woman held out a simple wooden javelin and said, "As soon as I see who is the cause of this I will kill him, that is what I shall contribute."

"Then you better stick with us if you want to get to whoever is doing this alive. We have another block, then its nothing but constructs, so we have a better shot of one of us putting this guy into the ground if we all stick together," said Xander.

Wonder Woman looked like she wanted to argue, but simply nodded. She didn't win the challenges by strength alone, and it was a good idea, even if it did come from a man.

"Okay people from here on it gets difficult," said Xander just before the three began to once again make their way into the center of the city.

* * *

Giles watched in fascination, and more than a little worry, as Cordelia continued to chant in perfect Egyptian. The knowledge that had been given to Cordelia because of her costume choice on Halloween was proving invaluable, but even the most benevolent of the old Gods weren't to be completely trusted, and Giles couldn't help but think of what price would come for such gifts.

As the chanting suddenly stopped a path of golden light formed between the lit incense and led into the western wall. Cordelia stood up, took a long drink of the ice water she had asked be ready for her, and casually stepped onto the floating pathway of light.

"The ritual allows two max, the caster and a friend, so I hope you guys can decide who else gets to come quickly," said Cordelia.

"Why didn't you tell us this before?" asked a frustrated Buffy.

"Because I didn't want you to distract me with your arguments while I was doing the ritual, duh," said Cordelia in an irritated tone.

"Never mind, I will go," said Giles as he immediately stepped onto the pathway as well. "I would have preferred it if none of you children were put in danger, but it seems to be unavoidable for Ms Chase. However I have no intention of putting the rest of you in any more danger than you are already in."

Having said what he needed to say Giles quickly walked to, and then through, the west wall of the school library before his Slayer could recover and pull him off the path so she could go. He was soon followed by Cordelia who was screaming at him to wait for her.

* * *

After walking for what seemed like an eternity in the dark Egyptian underworld Giles could finally make out what appeared to be the end of the path. After walking so for long Giles didn't know if he should be relieved at the thought of ending the journey, or scared out of his mind at the thought of what he was to meet at the end of the path.

"Looks like Ra has some company," said Cordelia as it became obvious that there was more than one figure at the end of the path.

"Indeed, let us hope that is a good thing instead of a bad thing," said Giles while intentionally using the word hope, instead of pray. In this realm so close to gods of myth their prayers would certainly be heard, but would probably be twisted and used against them.

"That's definitely Bast, so that will probably help us," said Cordelia as she pointed to a woman with a cats head that had less clothing on that Cordelia did during Halloween.

"Perhaps," said Giles as they entered the presence of the gods and he saw the helmet of Fate being held in the hand of the sun god.

"Well, it's about time you came to visit," said Bast as she hugged Cordelia. "I didn't give you knowledge of a lost ritual just so you could stay in the mortal realm all the time."

"Sorry, I didn't want to seem needy," said Cordelia as she returned the hug.

"Cats are independent creatures, but we give plenty of affection to those that deserve it. Now let's let the Watcher and Ra talk while I introduce you to someone visiting from the Christian afterlife. Her name's Selina and she has wanted to meet you ever sense that incident with Janus a couple of months ago," said Bast as she led Cordelia off of the path.

"Is it safe for her to be off the path?" Giles asked Ra.

"Bast can be trusted not to harm her," said the Sun God. "Now let us speak of the events taking place in the realm of the living, and why you have sought me out."

The voice of Ra was once believed to be the voice of creation, and hearing it first hand Giles could see why. At the moment he considered the fact that he was still standing on his feet to be nothing short of a miracle, but now he would have to debate with the God why he should give the helmet of Fate to an aging mortal.

Oh how Giles was quickly learning to yearn for the days where he only had to deal with demons. Not even Ripper in his most reckless moments attempted to have a face to face with a God, so what chance did he have now that the strength of youth was quickly fading from him?


	5. A Laugh

The sight that met the three warriors when they reached the center of town wasn't pretty to say the least. The square had five living figures in it, but for of them were being held by demonic figures based off of people Xander recognized through his fathers memories.

"On three," said Wonder Woman as she and Batgirl tensed.

"Wait," said Xander as he put a restraining hand on both of them. "If we attack from the same place there's no way we'll be able to win. We need to attack from different angles and split his attention."

"He's torturing my family," snarled Batgirl even as Batman was put on some kind of spinning wheel so the person that was causing all this trouble could throw knives at him.

"I know, and that's even more reason to take this guy out right the first time," said Xander.

"The man has a point," said Wonder Woman in a pained voice.

"If one of them dies, I'm holding you responsible," said Batgirl right before she went off towards Xanders' right.

"Because you are able to see us from great distances we will take our lead from you, just be sure not to move before both of us are in a position to attack," said Wonder Woman as she moved towards Xanders left.

Xander didn't say any of the comments that were in his mind and simply let Batgirl and Wonder Woman get into position. He would either talk to them about respecting teammates later, or they would all be dead, either way now was not the time.

As soon as both Wonder Woman and Batgirl were in place Xander let loose a blast of heat vision powerful enough to vaporize a building. Of course the blast had no effect what so ever on the fifth figure, but it was flashy enough to alert the others to move.

Even as the figure focused on the more present threat Xander provided Wonder Woman pierced his heart with her wooden javelin, and Batgirl put a wooden batarang into the mans head. Unfortunately these attacks proved to be just about as effective as Xanders heat vision.

"It tickles," said the Joker as he pulled the wooden weapons from his tattered flesh while laughing like a maniac.

"I hate being right," said Xander just before he and his allies were engulfed in a green haze.

* * *

When Xander awoke he found himself restrained with the others. Usually that wouldn't be a problem, but with the magical nature of the ring combined with what appeared to be an un-killable Joker made this situation worrisome.

"Oh good you're all awake. I've been waiting to do this for years and it just wouldn't be fun without an audience," said the Zombie Joker.

"Yeah I bet you've just been dying to do this," said Xander before he could help himself.

"Nice one," said a laughing Joker right before he broke Xanders right arm, "but you really shouldn't try to upstage the main act, it just isn't polite.

"Now as I was saying I've waited a long time for this family reunion. Batgirl come on down and give your daddy a hug," said Joker as a bout of green flame destroyed Batgirls uniform leaving her dressed like some kind of female clown.

"You're not her father," spat Batgirls mother from where a demonic Batman and Batgirl constructs were holding her.

"I may as well be. After all I was the one that convinced young David to slip you those pills and do what he wanted to with you. If not for my prodding this little bundle of aggression and rage never would have come into this world," said the undead clown.

"You did that to me! You sick bastard, I'll kill you!" raged Batgirls mother as she struggled against her restraints. "Now that's the rage I wanted to bring out!" crowed Zombie Joker. "It was such a delight to find out that the bats I killed had a brat like you. I knew with just the right pushes you could be just a funny as me, such a shame I never got to finish working on you."

"So you knew she was the Batmans kid and singled her out?" asked Xander through clenched teeth.

"That wasn't the Batman, just some punk kid playing dress up! Robin must have decided to carry on after I killed the real thing without knowing about it," reasoned Joker.

"That so?" asked Xander.

"Listen kid, there is no way Bats would stop while I was around, he just wasn't built that way," stated Joker.

"So what now," asked Wonder Woman.

"Now the bats die, and Gotham is ruled by the Joker family," said Joker as he made a clown holding a sword appear in front of each of them.

"Hey Joker, want to hear a joke?" asked Xander.

The Joker seemed to think about it for a while, then dispersed the sword wielding clowns with a wave of his hand just as they were about to kill every one and said, "Sure, you seem to be the only one here with a sense of humor so you may have some good ones. But make sure they're good, or I'll start dunking the patriotic blond in acid."

"What do you get when you cross Superman with a Dalmatian?" asked Xander.

"I don't know, what?" responded Joker.

"The only dog in the world that will use a fire instead of a fire hydrant when it goes on its walk," said Xander while desperately hoping this worked. The Joker cracked up laughing, and the constructs Xander could see beyond the town center looked just a little more ghostly then they did a moment ago.

"Hey Joker, when Hourman was thinking up a name what did his wife suggest?" asked Xander.

"I don't know, what?" asked Joker between bouts of laughter.

"Five minute man, after all that's the longest he ever lasted with her," said Xander. The Joker laughed even harder, and Xander could see that the dome around Gotham was almost gone so it was time to deliver the final joke.

"Hey Joker listen really close because this one is a real killer. Don't think about Batman for five minutes," said Xander with a smile on his face despite the pain he was in.

"Huh?" asked Joker in confusion, just before he was hit by a dark green fist and the restraints holding Xander, Wonder Woman, and the Bat-clan vanished.

"I love that joke," said Xander as he set the bone in his arm, and turned his cape into a makeshift sling.

"I would hardly classify anything you said to entertain that madman as a joke, but the last one seems to be distracting him," said Wonder Woman as she picked herself off of the ground.

"The Zebra joke combined with a weapon that reads thoughts, I should have thought of that," said Batman as he and his family made their way over to Xander and Wonder Woman.

"It won't last for long, but it should give us enough time to figure out a plan of attack, minus Batgirl," said Xander as he caught sight of the now nude female crime fighter. "Um, could someone lend her their cape?"

"As if that is much of a deterrent for one with your abilities," commented Wonder Woman, causing Xander to break out in a fierce blush.

"Act like a farm boy later, right now we need to figure out what to do once Joker stops fighting the Batman construct he made," said Batgirl as she wrapped herself in Batmans cape.

"If we can remove the ring I can take care of Joker," said Xander.

"Great and just how are we supposed to do that? Not all of us can move faster than a speeding bullet," said the Huntress.

"Maybe he'll have an idea," said Robin as he pointed to a point in the sky where a figure was walking out of a portal.

"Doctor Fate," said Xander as he recognized the helmet the figure wore.

"Can I help?" asked a figure that suddenly appeared next to Batman.

The red and blue body suit the newcomer wore showed that he was fit, and the sparks of witchfire that followed him every time he made the slightest move showed that he had some kind of power. The golden lightning design running across his chest, and the wings on the metallic colored motorcycle helmet were dead giveaways, but Xander had to ask, "Who are you?"

"I'm the new Flash," said the newcomer just before the Joker let out a cry of rage and victory as he absorbed the Batman construct back into his ring.

"Round two," quipped Robin.

"Lets go for a TKO," said Xander as he shifted his weight and positioned himself so his injured arm wouldn't be facing the constructs Joker was about to send at them.


	6. First Star Seen This Night

"Flash evacuate everyone you can find within a five block radius. Then go to Gotham Park and bring us as much wood as you can carry," snapped Xander as Joker launched another volley of constructs at them. "Fate, you're our expert on magic, do you have any suggestions on how to take down the clown?"

"None that I can act on," responded the echoing voice of Fate. "I am currently separated from the source of my power, and have to rely on the magical reserves of this body."

"So that means you can't just trap the clown in a tree then, crap. Okay you have knowledge so tell us anything you can figure out about why the ring is working without the Lantern," said Xander.

"The ring and the body are being powered by a feedback loop of chaos magic. The more chaos and panic the Joker creates the more power is put into the ring," said Fate.

"Is it possible to outlast him?" asked Xander.

"Not likely," said Batman as the Flash returned and threw over a hundred wooden spears into the animated clown corpse. "There is no telling how long Joker has been charging the ring and the longer we draw this out the greater the chances for Joker to figure out the full power of the ring become."

"Okay, plan B then. Make your way over to Wonder Woman and give her as many of your wooden batarangs as you can spare. I want the two of you to use them to cut of the hand that has the ring. Chances are that if the hand is removed Joker will loose his connection to the ring and we can end this," said Xander as he used his heat vision to obliterate a construct that was fighting Flash.

"And what will the rest of you be doing?" asked Batman.

"We get to play a game called distract the all-powerful maniac. If you want to trade places all you have to do is ask," said Xander.

Batman didn't say anything as he started to make his way over to Wonder Woman to fill her in on the plan so Xander decided that Bats didn't want to play bait. Xander didn't have a problem with that, though he was beginning to believe that the entire Bat-clan had an antisocial streak.

Even with Xander maneuvering to prevent even more damage to his arm the plan went off without a hitch. With five heroes commanding his attention Joker didn't notice Wonder Woman and Batman circling around until his severed hand hit the pavement.

"You ruined the punch line," moaned the Joker right before Xander atomized the corpse with his heat vision.

"Remind me not to get you man," said Flash as he looked at the blackened hole where the Joker had once stood.

"Just don't steal my Twinkies and we're good," said Xander with a grin.

"Is the ring supposed to still be glowing like that?" asked Robin.

"Everyone take cover!" screamed Xander just before the ring erupted in green light and the body of the Joker regenerated from the hand. "Note to self; engage in witty banter only after every part of the unholy creature of chaos has been vaporized."

"That was a new one," said a fully regenerated zombie Joker. "And now for the grand finale, don't worry folks this joke is a real killer."

Xander threw a piece of wood towards the Jokers hand as hard as he could, desperately hoping that he could repeat the same trick they had just pulled off. Unfortunately the chaos magic powering both the ring and Joker decided to no longer be vulnerable to wood so the splinter shattered as soon as it impacted on the emerald force field.

"Sorry kid, but in this business you really have to keep your material fresh," quipped Joker as he shot a deadly bolt of energy toward Xander at the speed of light. A bolt of energy that washed harmlessly over an invisible wall placed five feet in front of Xander.

"Buffy?" asked Xander in shock as he a blond girl that was roughly the same build as his friend hovering in the air.

"Names Stargirl," said the red and green clad figure as she clutched a now familiar golden staff.

"My mistake, but you may want to consider changing that to Starwoman, just so there isn't any confusion a few years from now," said Xander with a smile as he noticed the new cosmic rod generated a force field powerful enough to contain the Joker.

"Yeah can we discuss that later? The rod is maxed out right now and it won't be long before this guy breaks loose," said Stargirl as the rod began to shake in its attempts to hold the infuriated Joker.

"Pop open the recharge hatch and we can provide you more power," said Xander.

"What are you talking about?" asked Stargirl.

"Your predecessor built the original rod to accept power from outside sources incase the main power source wasn't up to the job. Now pop the hatch so Fate and I can charge the rod with our power," explained Xander.

"Okay um, I think it was this button," said Stargirl right before the paneling on the back of the rod slid open to reveal a familiar design.

"Yeah that was the right button," said Xander as he focused his heat vision on the now exposed area. "Fate start channeling as much energy as you can into here, lightning works best, but this device is designed to absorb almost every kind of energy known. Flash look for a way to connect to the city power grid, Fate and I won't be able to keep this up forever."

It didn't matter though, because even with Xander and Fate pouring in more energy than the rod was designed to handle, the power of chaos was far beyond anything man could make. Soon cracks formed in the bubble of green flame and those cracks spider-webbed until the force field was blown wide open.

"Got to hand it to you kiddies, you're almost as much fun as the originals, but playtimes over," said Joker.

"It's about time," said Xander with a relieved smile.

"What was that?" asked Joker.

"Didn't you ever wonder whatever happened to the lantern Joker? We've had it the entire time, but haven't been able to use it because apparently the oath recited to draw power out changes from user to user," said Xander with the same smile plastered on his face. "You see the reason that I'm smiling is because the person that had the lantern just used found an oath that works for him, the same oath he said every night until he retired. Nine little words, and now he has access to just as much power as you."

"And what words would those be?"

"'So that no one else will share my pain.' I'll give you three guesses on who's oath that is, and the first two don't count."

"What are you talking about?" asked Joker right before he was attacked by a swarm of giant green bats.

Soon a figure that had haunted the dreams of Gotham criminals for over fifty years emerged from its hiding place in the shadows, a feet made even more extraordinary now because the figures costume seemed to be made out of a dark green light. The figure radiated power, and only a fraction of it was coming from the green lantern held in his right hand.

"Batman," said Joker with an insane grin on his face. "It's about time you showed up. It just wouldn't have been right for me to come back and you not follow. Now we can really have some fun."


	7. Traiding Black for Green

"Everybody move it!" screamed Xander as he dodged a group of fighting constructs.

"Yeah, like we really need to be told that. We do have survival instincts you know," said the Flash as he ushered those without enhanced speed to a safer distance.

"Good Lord, he's taking energy directly from the lantern," said Fate in an awed voice.

"That means he can match Joker in power, and trump him in will," said Xander as he vaporized some rubble that would have injured civilians when it landed.

"You really think he has it in him?" asked the Huntress as she watched the battle, attempting to spot some kind of weakness in Jokers constructs.

"In the end it always came down to who wanted to win more between those two. No, even after all this time I have no doubt that Joker will loose again, just like he always did in the past, we just have to make sure no one else gets hurt while they fight," said Xander right before he raced off to brace a building that was about to fall.

No one had much to say to that so they all turned to the raging battle. While the constructs that were being made were glorious and frightening everyone watching knew that in the long run they were simply a side note to the true battle. This was a war that was once again pitting chaotic insanity against order and rational thinking. This was a war that had often been waged on the streets of Gotham, but never at this level.

"Come on you don't really think you can win do you?" asked Joker. "I killed you once; this time won't be any different. Well okay I'll make sure it hurts more this time around, but other than that it's just like old times."

The dark green Batman simply smiled in a way that filled with dread as the green cowl began to dissolve revealing the face of a man in his nineties. "Does this look like the face of a dead man to you clown? I walked away from you, forgot you like the nothing you are, and when I finish with you today I'll forget you all over again."

"No, it can't be true," muttered Joker as his constructs were torn apart by Batman's constructs.

As the last bit of will faded from Joker something truly strange happened. A beam of energy shot out of the lantern and connected with the ring. Xander would have thought that Batman was attempting to destroy the ring with the lantern, if it wasn't for the complete look of surprise on his face.

"Joker is trying to charge the ring," growled the man in a bat costume Xander was now mentally labeling as Junior.

"No he isn't," said Xander as he used his telescopic vision to get a good look at Joker. "Joker is beginning to decompose at an accelerated rate. I think the energy from the lantern is purging the chaos energy from the ring."

"Any idea what will happen when the lantern finishes purging?" asked Stargirl.

"If my fathers memories are anything to go on I'm guessing a rather large explosion so you may want to hold your thumb over whatever button controls the force fields," said Xander.

"Do you want it around us or around the green guys?" asked Stargirl as she started to work the controls on her cosmic rod.

"Put it around Batman and Joker. We don't know how big the explosion will be and people could still die if buildings start coming down," said Xander as he quickly ran through the worse case scenario he could think of, and how to prevent it.

"How big of an explosion are we talking about?" asked Stargirl as she put the force field around her intended targets.

Xander didn't have enough time to answer because as soon as the force field was in place a large magical explosion ripped it to shreds, and flung Batman back several yards before Flash caught him. It wasn't the biggest explosion in history by any means, but it still left a decent sized crater and a severely burned Batman.

"Flash take him to any hospital that is still open, he has internal bleeding and needs immediate surgery," said Xander. "If there is anyone here who is camera shy I suggest leaving now because with the shield around the city down news crews will be coming to film every inch of this area."

"Do you intend to just stay here and take the credit?" asked Junior.

"No I intend to stay here and look for any trace of the lantern and ring, Jokers body, any injured people that were missed, and stabilize any buildings that were damaged in the fight, in that order," said Xander.

"Good," said Junior as he and the rest of the Bat-clan melted into the shadows to avoid the public eye.

"Oh yeah, no hostility there at all. You would think he would be a bit more mellow since his parents lived, but he's as bad as his dad ever was," muttered Xander as he engaged his x-ray vision. The last thing they needed after this disaster was for the ring and lantern to fall into evil hands again.

* * *

In New York City a struggling artist nervously walked through a park. The events in Gotham had him spooked, and he was going to go crazy if he sat and watched the same footage of news one more time. In a desperate attempt to calm his nerves he walked to what he was beginning to consider his spot in his favorite park.

As Kyle sat down and began to sketch his favorite statue he couldn't help but think that it was somehow different tonight. It was probably a trick of the dim light but he could swear that the lantern had scorch marks on it now.

Walking closer Kyle saw that there were indeed scorch marks on the lantern, and they seemed recent. It was probably just some guy that was more spooked by what was happening in Gotham letting off steam, but Kyle couldn't help but be a bit upset at someone messing up his favorite statue.

Spitting into his ragged coat Kyle began to polish the lantern, hoping to make it a bit more presentable. What he didn't know was by doing that simple act he would forever change his place in the world, but he may have had an idea that something was up when the lantern and ring started to glow with an unearthly green light.

The End


End file.
